The Herricks Board of Education will seek to maintain the Gemini program and the high school fall drama and restore two teaching positions that were to be cut to achieve $3.19 million in year-to-year cost savings recommended by district administrators for the 20113-14 budget.
The board agreed at Thursday night’s meeting to restore approximately $470,000 in cuts that Helen Costigan, Herricks assistant superintendent for business, estimated would be necessary to maintain the programs.
Board Trustee Dr. Sanjay Jain suggested restoring the district’s Gemini program for gifted elementary school students with a single teacher based on additional state aid the district will receive and funds available from money reserved for property tax appeals.
Proposed budget cuts made by school administrators called for eliminating both existing Gemini teaching positions and the program for a saving of approximately $265,000.
Jain said the board should “keep the program going, sustain it and hope for a better time.”
Board President Christine Turner supported the idea of saving Gemini and said cutting a program usually means it would not be revived.
“Hopefully things will improve,” she said.
“It’s hard to say what the program will be, but we want to sustain it,” Jain said.
Board Trustee Nancy Feinstein said the board should restore the high school fall drama, which had been tagged among the cuts at a saving of $13,886.
“I’d like to see both plays, the musical and the drama, to continue each year,” Feinstein said.
Turner said the board should budget for one or two teaching positions to enable the district to maintain smaller class sizes in the three district elementary schools. District administrators had recommended cutting 17 teaching positions – including eight elementary school teaching positions – for a saving of $2.1 million in salary and benefits.
“It would still leave some tight situations. But one more [teacher] would help,” said Herricks Superintendent of Schools John Bierwirth.
Board Vice President Jim Gounaris called for hiring a mathematics chair for grades K through 12, a position which has remained vacant for the past few years.
Feinstein also suggested a day trip to Philadelphia for district seventh graders as an alternative to the annual Boston trip and switching out the annual Frost Valley trip for sixth graders for a local trip to Project Adventure, a BOCES program. The Boston and Frost Valley trips were to be eliminated at a saving of $25,500.
“It takes affordability out of the equation,” said board Trustee Brian Hassan.
The board also reached a consensus on restoring $20,698 for clubs in district schools.
The board plans to take the money from a $350,000 reserve fund it created last year to cover any shortfall on property tax appeals and a $250,000 increase in state aid, Costigan said. The New York State Appellate Division Court recently overturned a Supreme Court ruling which would have passed a portion of Nassau County’s property tax settlements onto local municipalities, including school districts. The appellate court ruled the county could not abandon the county guarantee to make up shortfalls in property taxes.
Hassan said tapping into the tax certiorari reserve could have a “negative impact” if the county wins the appeal it has promised to file.
Jain said a reversal of the recent court decision could force the district to make deeper budget cuts in the future if the reserve funds are used.
Bierwirth said the board should consult the school district’s attorney, Lawrence Tenenbaum, before taking funds from the tax certiorari reserve fund.
After the meeting, Costigan said her $470,000 estimate of restored cuts included approximate annualized costs of $170,000 for the mathematics coordinator, $132,000 for the Gemini teacher and program supplies, $125,000 for one elementary school teacher, $20,698 for the school clubs, approximately $10,000 for the high school fall drama and $10,000 for the Philadelphia trip.
High school students had made an appeal to save the fall play at the last school board meeting. Grade school students had lobbied to save the class trips. Parents of Gemini students had repeatedly called for the program to be saved at previous meetings, but they had mixed reactions to the board’s solution.
“I don’t think it would work with one teacher. I don’t think it worked well with two teachers,” said Henry Zanetti, a parent of students in the middle school and the Center Street School.
Cuts in recent budgets had reduced the number of Gemini teachers to the two instructors now handling it.
“Gemini for now is bare bones. This one teacher to keep everybody quiet is a farce,” said Vaishali Rasquinha, who has a fourth grade daughter in Gemini at the Denton Aveunue School.
One parent said maintaining Gemini with the prospect of eventually restoring teaching positions for it would be better than dropping the program. Another parent with two children in the Gemini program said keeping class sizes smaller is more important to her than anything else.
In response to a question on whether donations could be used to support an after-school enrichment program for elementary school students, Bierwirth said if students were not screened selectively, donations could be used. If the early enrichment program was to be maintained as the Gemini program is currently run with higher achieving students selected for it, donations could not support it.
“Clearly the program cannot be identical to what we had this year. We will put our heads together about what would be the most effective use of the position,” Bierwirth said about a revamped Gemini program after the meeting.
Parents made pleas at Thursday night’s meeting for the board to not cut K through 12 intramural programs targeted for elimination along with most assistant coaching positions at the middle school and high school for a saving of $152,977.
Hassan, a member of the Herricks Athletic Boosters and a parent of children who play intramural sports, said students can find alternatives to intramural sports outside of school.
“There are options for kids to play sports,” he said.
